Welcome to Gaia! ::

Raite came over to her as she was trying to think of what to do, neatly plucking the two torches from her hand. Scylla liked Raite. He was a smart guy. Either that or they just happened to be thinking on the same wavelength. Something like that. She'd give him the benefit of a doubt, she decided, and call him a very smart guy. Not out loud. "There are more torches. Give me a second and I'll go grab them." The dark head nodded in the direction of the loose torches, followed by the bound ones in the slings. "We'll use the loose torches first. The bound ones we'll use later if we need them." Her words were given the finality of an Executive Decision; it wasn't said with any hesitation, it wasn't a question. If Jada knew how she was starting to come across, she'd probably be embarrassed.

Her father would be proud.

Heels clacked lightly against the stone as she almost scampered back for more of the loose torches. She managed to collect all seven of the torches in her arms and stumble back to Raite, setting them down on the floor in a pile. Lifting two more torches, she lit them against Raite's own pair, casting more light around the room.

There were still people outside, but no longer were they in a dungeon. It was still clammy and cold, but that was a relief after the sun outside. "You can have those two. When everyone gets downstairs, you can give yours to Howl or... the girl." she felt mildly guilty that she'd been so intent on going down into the cave she'd neglected some basic courtesies. Mildly.

With the light, she could see the stairs, so she went over to them. "Hey!" she called up the stairs; "There is light down here now, so head down when you are ready! If you can't see, yell!" If they didn't reply or come down in a few moments, she'd go get them, make sure they knew. She didn't know how long the stairs went; coming down them had felt like forever. Then she clacked back across the room towards the other senshi, holding out one of the torches. "Here you go, Boreas. Light."

Though he was leading the small group he had somewhat laid claim upon, he paused at the top of the steps, glancing back towards the newest addition. Sailor Pyxis' idea was absolutely charming in the fashion that a young child's thinking was. It was simple, true enough, but it was heartfelt and sincere. With a polite laugh, he extended his hand towards the darker-haired girl of the pair.

"It would seem we were all destined to awaken in this peculiar desert. I am still baffled by the fact I woke up without my shoes." His toes momentarily wriggled beneath him, as if to punctuate his point with the simple (probably unnoticed) gesture.

If the girl had not picked up the meaning in his reaching out to her, he soon enough clarified his intent with his words. "Come now, Miss Rosa, was it? I know not if Mr. Pyxis' idea is the most thought out, but it is better than nothing at the moment." For a moment, he shifted slightly, making certain to hold the saddle bag under the pit of his arm while holding onto one hand and reaching out for another.

There was a sound down at the bottom of the stairs, the voice sounding rather feminine. It was only towards the end of the statement that he was able to start translating properly: If you can't see, yell! Though the area was quite dark, if he squinted, he could make out shapes, such as the edge of the stairway. In a calm tone to whoever from his small group was willing to listen, he offered a reassuring "I am certain once our eyes adjust to the darkness, we will be just fine."

Boreas took one of the torches, and Scylla beamed at him. "Symbols on the wall?" she glanced at his hand, examining the wall. A glance behind her told her Raite was looking at something, though she didn't know what. "We found some writing on the obelisk too." A glance back at Boreas; the other senshi looked as excited as she did.

Raite didn't sound half as excited about the task he'd been put to. Or, for that matter, even remotely enthusiastic about it. "Thank you, Raite." Her eyes moved back to the wall under Boreas' hand.

Hematite wasn't quite on the desert's schedule like the others. Strange mirages and hallucinated voices had sent him on more of a curving sidewinder path through the desert than a convenient straight line by way of flying carpet. He'd only met one other person in the desert, a senshi, and that hadn't lasted long. Kind of the last thing he'd needed on top of dehydration, heat stroke, and waking up in the uniform of an enemy combatant. But it was impossible to stay in one place for long, when moving meant there was actually a chance to find water or shade or some way out of the dunes.

After a lengthy period of being on hold, his prayers seemed to have been answered. There was a cave. It was inviting enough in comparison to the stark black and white surroundings of the desert. But there were... other people there. A lot of them. Suspicious already and not in the best frame of mind, Hematite waited anxiously from a distance while they milled and broke into groups. One half of the group disappeared in, and it wasn't till the other one turned away from the desert to do the same that Hematite began to slink toward it, following the others in quietly, and hoping that he wouldn't be spotted so easily in the dark. If he stayed out in the desert any longer he'd have passed out, and that would have been the end of that.

After reading over the words scribed into the now lit up walls, Boreas took the sling and threw it over his shoulder. He had already carried a whole other person through the hot desert, a sling filled with a few sticks of wood wouldn't pose a problem. He then turned his gaze away from the writings on the wall and walked slowly with one hand tracing over the surface of the wall. He was far too impatient to stand there reading the words over and over again. Just after a few readings, he was already feeling anxious and agitated. He wanted to see if any other writings were present with their new found torches lighting the way. He didn't so much rely on his eyes, but the indention his fingers felt as they traced along the walls. He didn't notice anything too special or should it be said that his fingers didn't notice any indention that seemed like writing. With one hand on the wall, he turned around to face his two companions.

"I don't see any other writings right now. What do the two of you make of that? I don't think I remember too many of those people from History class."

To be more accurate, Boreas didn't remember any of them from any class. That would be attributed to the fact that none of them had anything to do with swimming and as far Boreas was concerned, they just made the whole thing more confusing.

"I'm going to keep exploring the rest of the walls. See if anything that makes a bit more sense is written somewhere."

He then continued his pattern of tracing the walls with his hand while lighting the way with his torch.

Scylla read the inscription aloud, biting her lip when she was done. Solomon. Ozymandias. Rameses, Midas. All great kings, and all from a very generalized area. Ozymandias, a poem; Ozymandias, another name for Rameses. Rameses, there were tons. His jewels. Midas, of the golden touch, Greek mythology. Solomon. Biblical king, Middle eastern area. Their treasures, all compiled, And... djnn? Really? Really-really? "The Djnn are creatures of fire and light; so must you be if you would measure your worth against that which dwells here." Fire and light... There were bags of torches, more than just- more people made it down the stairs.

A last glance at the writing here, and she started carefully looking at the walls, slowly, carefully; her delicate fingers trailed the stone. She walked the entire room, pausing at anything of interest she found, be it scratches or nicks. "Please don't light any more torches yet, if it can be avoided." she said it loudly enough she hoped everyone could hear. "We want to ration them, if we can. My vote, anyway." An odd greeting for the new people in the room. And she kept tracing the walls, looking at the floor during her pauses at interesting things in the wall.

There was nothing else of interest in the room so far as they could tell; Scylla's attempts to run her hands over the stone walls revealed nothing.